Child&#39;s chair for use either within or outside of an automobile



Nov. 26, 1957 M. 1. GOLDBERG 2,814,333

CHILD'S CHAIR FOR USE EITHER WITHIN OR OUTSIDE OF AN AUTOMOBILE Filed Dec. 3, 1953 2 SheetsSheet l Mrs/I701? "M 1 60408586 flTTOkNEY Nov. 26, 1957 M. 1. GOLDBERG 2,814,333

CHILD'S CHAIR FOR USE EITHER WITHIN OR OUTSIDE OF AN AUTOMOBILE Filed Dec. s, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2

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United States Patent CHILDS CHAIR FOR USE EITHER WITHIN OR QUTSIDE OF AN AUTOMOBILE Morris 1. Goldberg, Waban, Mass.

Application December 3, 1953, Serial No. 395,939

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-11) This invention relates to a childs chair which is constructed so that it can be used inside an automobile for carrying a child and can also be used equally well outside of the automobile on a floor or other fiat surface.

One object of the invention is to provide a childs chair having a novel construction so that when the chair is being used in the automobile the rear legs may be shortened to an appropriate length so that they will rest on the seat of an automobile while the front legs have a length to rest on the floor in front of the seat, said chair having provision for being attached to the top of the back of the seat.

Another feature of the invention relates to a novel construction by which the angle of the back legs relative to the side members may be varied so that the seat of the chair may be placed in either a horizontal position or a backwardly inclined position.

Other features of the invention relate to various improvernents which will be hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated one embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the chair in condition for use outside of an automobile;

Fig. 2 is a side view showing the chair in use inside an automobile with the upper end of the rear legs attached to the top of the back of the seat and the rear legs resting on the seat;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the brace elements of the chair frame;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the rear legs showing the manner of connecting the two sections thereof;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the chair with the rear legs extended and arranged to support the seat in a horizontal position;

Fig. 6 is a rear view with the rear legs adjusted so as to support the chair seat in a backwardly inclined position;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line 77 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the means for locking the simulated steering wheel in its operative position; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view illustrating the pivotal connection between the two sections of the rear leg member.

The chair frame presents two side members 3, two rear leg members 4 and two front leg members 5. The rear leg members 4 are pivoted near their upper ends to the rear ends of the side members 3 as shown at 6, and the upper ends of the front leg members 5 are pivotally connected to the front ends of the side members 3 as shown at 7.

The body of the chair which is indicated generally at 8 presents two side portions 9 which are secured at their upper edges to the side members 3 of the frame, said side portions 9 being connected by the seat portion 10. The body also provides a back portion 11 which is shown as rising somewhat above the side members 3. The body portion 8 may be made of any suitable material such as heavy canvas or wicker ware and the upper edges of the side portions 9 may be connected to the side members 3 in any approved way such as by means of rivets 12.

The front leg members 5 are connected to the side members 3 through the medium of folding brace elements 13 each of which comprises two sections 14 and 15 pivotally connected together at 16, the section 15 being pivoted to the front leg member at 17 and the section 14 being pivoted to the side member at 18. These folding braces 13 can be folded upwardly to permit the front legs to fold back beneath the body. The folding braces, however, are constructed so that when they are straightened as shown in the drawings, they are locked from downward folding movement, this end being secured by a lug 19 extending laterally from the brace section 14 and adapted to fit into a notch formed in the brace section 15.

The frame of the chair also includes two link elements 20, each of which connect the corresponding side member 3 to the rear leg member 4 at a point intermediate of the ends of the leg member.

Each leg member 4 is provided with a slot 21 extending longitudinally thereof and each link 20 carries at its rear end a clamping bolt 22 which extends through the slot and by which the end of the link member can be clamped in any one of a variety of positions lengthwise of the slot.

The purpose of this construction is to provide means whereby the rear leg members may be placed at varying angular positions with reference to the side members 3, thereby to support the chair with its seat substantially horizontal, as shown in Fig. 5, or with its seat in a backwardly inclined position as shown in Fig. 6. When the parts are adjusted so that the clamping bolt 22 of each link 20 is at the lower end of the slot 21 the rear legs will be placed in a substantially vertical position as shown in Fig. 5 while if the clamping bolt 22 is adjusted to the upper end of the slot 21 the rear legs will be given the inclined position shown in Fig. 6 with the result that the body of the chair will have a backwardly inclined position.

In order to provide a construction which will permit the chair to be used either within an automobile attached to the back of the seat thereof or to be used on a floor or other fiat surface, I propose to make each rear leg member in two sections which are pivoted together, the lower section being foldable up against the upper section thereby shortening the overall length of the rear leg members. Each rear leg member also has a supporting hook element 23 secured to its upper end, said hook elements being adapted to hook over the top of the back 24 of an automobile seat. The sectional division of the rear legs is such that when the lower section is folded upwardly the overall length of the rear leg will be such that when the chair is attached to the back of the seat the shortened rear legs will rest on the seat portion 25 while the longer front legs 5 will extend to the floor in front of the seat 25 thus supporting the chair as indicated in Fig. 2.

Each divided or sectional rear leg presents the upper section 26 which has the slot 21 therein and the lower section 27 which is pivoted to the lower end of the upper section as shown at 28. The lower sections of the two legs are shown as connected at their lower ends by a cross member 29. The lower ends of the upper sections 26 of the two rear legs are also shown as connected by a cross bar 30 and the construction is such that bar 30 prevents backward folding movement of the lower sections 27 but permits forward folding movement thereof. As indicated in Fig. 9 the lower edge of the bar 30 is below the pivotal point 28 so that when the two sections are in alignment the cross bar 30 acts as a stop to prevent backward swinging movement of the leg sections 27. These sections can, however, be freely swung forwardly and folded up against the upper sections 26 when it is desired to provide shortened rear legs for the chair.

The chair is shown provided with armrests 31 which may be secured to the side members 3 in any suitable way. As herein shown each armrest has a depending leg 32 which is secured to the side members 3 by the rivets 12 above referred to.

33 indicates a safety strap which is secured at its rear ends to the upper ends of the legs 4 and by which the child is prevented from falling out of the chair. There is also provided an additional safety feature in the form of a strap 34 which is secured at its lower end to the bottom of the seat and the upper end of which is adapted to be attached to the safety belt 33.

The chair also includes a simulated steering wheel which may be placed in a lowered inoperative position as shown in Fig. 1 or may be placed in a raised operative position in which it is directly in front of the child occupying the chair. This simulated steering wheel is indicated at 35 and is mounted on a post 36 which in turn is pivotally supported by a cross member 37 connecting the lower ends of the front legs 5. As herein shown the lower end of the post 36 is pivotally mounted on a supporting bracket secured to the cross member 37, said bracket including a channel member 38. The lower end of the post 36 is received between the legs of said channel member and is pivoted thereto at 39. This pivotal connection permits the simulated steering wheel to be swung between a lowered inoperative position shown in Fig. 1 to a raised operative position shown in Fig. 2 and means are provided whereby during such swinging movement into the operative position the post 36 will become automatically locked thus holding the simulated steering wheel in its operative position. For this purpose there is provided a locking member 40 having a resilient body portion 44 which is secured at its lower end to the member 38, the upper end of the locking member having a channel-shape presenting two parallel sides or wing portions forming between them a space to receive the post when it is in raised operative position thereby locking the post in such position. The lower edge 41 of each wing portion is inclined downwardly from the front edge to the body portion 44 and these inclined edges are situated so that when the post is swung from its lowered inoperative position into its raised operative position said post will engage the inclined surfaces and thereby force the channel shaped end of the locking member backwardly to carry the wings thereof out of the path of the post, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8 and when the post has reached its vertical operative position the resiliency of the locking member will move the channelshaped portion forwardly to embrace the post and thus lock it from backward movement. If desired a leaf spring 45 may be used to back up the locking member and thus to augment the resiliency thereof required to move it into its operative position.

The supporting hook members 23 are shown as pivotally mounted on the upper ends of the rear leg members as indicated at 43 thereby permitting the hook members 23 to be swung around into a position at the side of the folding is advantageous because it permits the chair 1 frame to be collapsed into a relatively small space for storage purposes.

I claim:

A childs chair comprising side members, rear leg members connected at their upper ends to the rear ends of the side members, front leg members connected at their upper ends to the front ends of the side members, a connecting member connecting the front leg members at their lower ends, a body member suspended from the side members, said body member presenting a seat section, a back section and two side sections, an upwardly directed supporting bracket mounted on the connecting member, a post pivotally mounted on the supporting bracket and swingable from a lowered inoperative position into a raised vertical position in which the free end thereof is located above the front edge of the seat member, a simulated steering wheel mounted on said free end of the post, a post-locking member presenting a vertically extending resilient body portion, means securing the lower end of the body portion to the bracket member at a point below the pivotal connection of the post therewith, the upper end of said body portion extending above said pivotal connection and having a channel shape presenting two parallel wings spaced apart a sufiicient distance to receive the post, the lower edges of said wings being inclined downwardly from the front edge to the body portion, the resiliency of the body portion normally holding the post-locking member in its operative locking position, the inclined lower edges of the wings being situated to be engaged by the post when it approaches its vertical operative position whereby the swinging movement of the post forces the channel shaped upper end backwardly to carry the wings out of the path of the post to permit the latter to be moved into its vertical operative position, the resiliency of the body portion serving to move said channel shaped upper end of the locking member into locking position in which the wings embrace the post.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,022,767 Beistle Apr. 9, 1912 2,064,839 Kroll Dec. 22, 1936 2,128,435 Shippee et al. Aug. 30, 1938 2,399,792 Copp May 7, 1946 2,508,822 Goldberg May 23, 1950 2,548,016 Goldberg Apr. 10, 1951 2,605,811 Zoranovich Aug. 5, 1952 2,617,670 Welsh Nov. 11, 1952 2,772,423 Linden Dec. 4, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 215,234 Great Britain May 8, 1924 258.398 Great Britain Sept. 23, 1926 

